Pilot Glinka had exceptional skills in air combat. He effectively used the situation that developed during the battle, could easily organize the coherence of actions within his group, performed incredibly complex maneuvers, and easily defeated the enemy. Dmitry Borisovich is endowed with such characteristics of Glinka by his wingman Ivan Babak. He, like no one else, could appreciate the work of the commander.
Biography of Dmitry Borisovich Glinka (briefly)
Born in the village of Alexandrov Dar, Yekaterinoslav province in Ukraine in 1917, December 10th. He graduated from six classes of school. Since 1937 he was in the ranks of the Red Army.
In 1939, Dmitry completed his studies at the famous Kachinsky Aviation School.
Dmitry Borisovich Glinka served in the ranks of the army in the ranks of lieutenant from the beginning of 1942. As part of the IAP of the 45th receivedthe first baptism of fire in the battle in the Crimea. He showed particular differences in the defense of the Kuban. In April 1943, Glinka became assistant commander of the air rifle service. By this time, he had already shot down 15 enemy planes with 146 sorties.
For the first time, the title of Hero of the USSR Dmitry Borisovich was awarded in 1943, on April 24. In August 1943, he was already twice awarded the "Gold Star", by this time he had 183 sorties into battle, 29 Nazi aircraft were shot down.
After the war, the pilot did not leave the service in the Air Force. He graduated from the Air Force Academy in 1951. Served in civil aviation. Since 1960, Glinka - Guards Colonel of the Reserve, was a deputy in the Supreme Soviet. Died in 1979. His bronze bust was installed in Krivoy Rog. He was awarded the orders of Lenin, Alexander Nevsky, the Red Banner, the Red Star, medals.
Brothers Boris and Dmitry Glinka
Brothers were born in the family of a hereditary miner. The eldest was Boris - born in 1914, Dmitry - in 1917. Since 1929, Boris worked with his father at the mine. In 1934 he studied at the Mining College. At the same time, he worked at the flying club. This marked the beginning of the "flying" career. In 1936, Boris graduated from the pilot school in Kherson and began working as an instructor. In 1940 he was drafted into the Red Army, where he served as an instructor pilot. By his example, the elder brother had a strong influence on Dmitry. He also decided to devote himself to the sky, he studied at the Kachinsky flight school.
During the war, the brothers masteredAmerican fighters P-39 ("Aircobra"). After the war, they did not leave aviation and continued to serve. Boris graduated from the academy in 1952, Dmitry - a year earlier, until 1960 he commanded a regiment.
Military pilots of the USSR, the Glinka brothers are outstanding fighters in the air. Each of them had their own style, characteristic handwriting. Boris is a virtuoso of aerobatics, Dmitry is an excellent organizer of a battle group, he knew how to completely control the situation.
The famous "DB"
At the front, the great pilot Dmitry Borisovich Glinka was christened by the initials "DB". His main qualities were perseverance and inquisitiveness, patient stubbornness with which Dmitry threw his plane into the most complex and difficult figures. Like philosophers, the pilot tried to get to the bottom of the root causes of various incredibly difficult situations.
His students and colleagues noted in the DB, as a mentor, benevolence, patience, pedagogical invention and tact. One of them, Grigory Dolnik, recalled that Dmitry Borisovich always replaced suggestions and shouts with irony, and this had a tremendous impact on listeners.
Dmitry Glinka went to the front in 1942, without going through an instructor school, but before that he had sorties on the I-16 and served in the unit.
War. 1942
Glinka Dmitry Borisovich received his first baptism of fire in the Crimea. He participated in the battle on the Yak-1 aircraft, as part of a fighter regiment. Already in the first battle he shot down a fascist Ju-88, but was shot down himself. I didn’t remember how I went down with a parachute, how I ended up in my handsfoot soldiers. The concussion was very severe, and the doctors forbade Dmitry to fly. Despite this, the pilot soon returned to his regiment. With renewed vigor, he rushed into battle, made his heroic sorties; sometimes their number reached five in a day. Already in 1942, Glinka became an ace in flying. He was the first pilot in the regiment, and he was instructed to prepare and lead fighter groups into battle.
During the fighting in 1942, the regiment, which participated in the battles on four fronts, suffered losses in the amount of 30 vehicles, 12 pilots, while 95 enemy aircraft were destroyed. Then Dmitry already had six German cars on his account.
Kuban
In 1943, the air regiment was transferred to the "Airacobra" and in March they were thrown into the battle for the Kuban lands. The regiment received the rank of Guards (100th Guards IAP). Already the Guard Captain Glinka in battle proved himself to be an unsurpassed master of maneuvers. The pilot's "Aerocobra" wore No. 21, this figure simply began to terrify the enemy. By May 1943, Glinka Dmitry Borisovich shot down his 21 German aircraft and became a legend, he was the most productive pilot.
The Motherland deservedly appreciated his heroism. On April 24, for military achievements, for heroism and courage, for courage in the fight against the Nazis, Dmitry Borisovich was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, and also awarded the Order of Lenin.
In the April battles for the Kuban, Glinka showed incredible endurance. During the day he made several sorties, once their number reached nine. After such stress, the pilot slept for more than a day, he was diagnosed with strongoverwork.”
In one of the big battles in the Kuban, more than a hundred aircraft were involved. Dmitry made attacks from behind, from a hill, from both sides. He shot down two bombers, but suffered in the process himself. He was shot down and wounded, escaped by parachute. Still in bandages, he again returned from the hospital to the regiment and continued his service.
Trial of Glory
Pilots - heroes of the Great Patriotic War enjoyed special respect among the people. In April 1943, the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper published the essay "The Feeling of Heaven" by the poet Selvinsky. He began his description of the hero by comparing a person with the image of a bird. He compared the figure of the pilot Glinka with a free eagle.
In August 1943, Dmitry Glinka was twice Hero of the USSR. The test of glory was sometimes not easy for him. The pilot was embarrassed by cameramen and correspondents, newspaper portraits, daily letters delivered to him from strangers. With his unbalanced nature, he often did not know how to behave in certain situations. On the one hand, the title of Hero obliged him to carry his dignity, and on the other hand, the front-line brotherhood forced him to easy communication, sincerity, and utmost honesty with his colleagues. It happened that the rank took its toll, Dmitry became serious, sometimes harsh, but more often youth prevailed, and the 23-year-old guy turned into a clumsy and cheerful joker.
Legendary 100th Guards Aviation Regiment
Pilots - heroes of the Great Patriotic War, made a significant contribution to the victory. Dmitry Glinka made his numerous sorties andrelentlessly hit enemy planes. After the Kuban, the legendary regiment fought on the Molochnaya River, in the Mius operation, in the battle of Perekop. “The more enemies, the easier it is to beat them,” Dmitry Glinka reasoned. In September 1943, he received the second "Gold Star". Once, from a captured German grenade that exploded nearby, Dmitry received multiple wounds. But by December, the pilot was back in service and chalked up eight more enemy aircraft.
Soon the air regiment received reinforcements and became a participant on the southern front in the Yasso-Chisinau operation. Here the pilots shot down 50 planes, Dmitry raised his account to 46 planes. For a week of fighting near Iasi, Glinka won six victories.
The end of the war
In July 1944, Dmitry Glinka almost died in a plane crash. Five pilots of the Guards Regiment, including Dmitry Borisovich, flew on a transport plane to pick up the cars from the repair. They arrived at the airfield just before takeoff. They did not have enough seats in the cabin, so they had to sit in the tail on the aircraft covers. This saved the guys. Overcoming a mountain route, the plane caught the top, which was covered with clouds. There was a terrible crash in which all passengers and crew members died, only five of Glinka's group managed to survive. Dmitry was treated for two months, lay unconscious for several days. But after recovery, he immediately returned to the front. In the battles for Berlin in one day, he managed to shoot down three German aircraft. In April 1945, his last victory wasthe destroyed FW-190 fighter, the pilot shot him point-blank from thirty meters.
Summing up the military results, it is worth saying that Dmitry Glinka made three hundred sorties, one hundred air battles, personally shot down fifty enemy aircraft.
Post-war years
Guard Colonel Dmitry Glinka served in the Air Force for a long time. He was in command of a regiment, then he served in an aviation division, was a deputy commander. Lived in Moscow. He was demobilized in 1960. At that time, many military pilots changed the steering wheel of a combat vehicle to the cockpit of a passenger, agricultural or passenger aircraft. The famous ace, twice Hero of the USSR Dmitry Glinka sat at the helm of a passenger liner. As the pilot himself says, he could not live without the sky, and it was not in his nature, having retired, to relax in the country and pick mushrooms in the forest, read books and listen to calm music.
